


Until It Passes

by Xparrot



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Canon Related, Community: onepieceyaoi100, Ficlet Collection, Gen, Nakama, Water 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-08-03
Updated: 2004-11-15
Packaged: 2017-10-19 14:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/202015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xparrot/pseuds/Xparrot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four ficlets set in Water 7.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Until It Passes

**Author's Note:**

> Written while the manga arc was ongoing, so somewhat jossed now, but still applicable in mood if not in story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Topic: Shelter
> 
> Following chapter 331, so vague spoilers which likely will be rendered invalid come the next manga chapter. Please excuse me, I'm trying to deal here.

For all that he worked most of his life in crowded kitchens, Sanji prefers to cook undisturbed. Not that the crew always respects this, but if there's no rain imminent Zoro prefers to nap in the sun. He's not here now to grab a snack, though; instead he sits at the table.

Turning the heat down to let the sauce simmer, Sanji looks back to find the swordsman has his white katana out and is polishing the already-shining blade, studiously, not looking up when Sanji coughs in barely mannered irritation. _Can't you do that outside?_ he might say, or, _You better not get oil on the table we eat on_ , or, subtlety not being Zoro's strength, _Get the hell out, stupid_. But when he opens his mouth he says, "Where's Nami-san?"

Zoro, head still bent over the sword, replies, "In the main cabin, with Chopper."

"Robin-chan's still not back."

Luffy, he knows, is on the figurehead, maybe his final moments on that seat. And their last crewmate--he doesn't ask; Zoro doesn't know where he ran, either.

Sanji lights a cigarette. His hands are steady but the glowing embers blur; he blinks and they burn clear again.

Zoro draws his black katana, giving it the same careful attention. He won't be done anytime soon. The pan on the stove burbles and Sanji turns back.

"Tonight," Zoro says, "we should go find Robin."

 _You can go look now_ , he could reply. The swordsman doesn't have a meal to make.

But Zoro gets lost so easily. Here in the kitchen, with the sword metal clinking noisily against the table's wood and that sharp oil scent overpowering the sauce's flavor, at least Sanji knows where he is.

"After dinner," he says, and doesn't repeat the 'we', because Zoro already knows they'll go together.


	2. On the Figurehead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Topic: Shelter

The sun is bright on the water, and he tips his hat down so the glitter doesn't blind. He's warm, sitting here, comfortable on the painted wood, and every scratch and gouge his fingers run over is familiar.

It aches, so he can almost feel it himself, broken, every creak of the abused hull a faint whimper that he didn't hear before.

If he listens hard enough to the waves, they'll carry the sound of Vivi's laughter to him still, soft and sweet and so happy, for all he knows she cries some nights, looking up at the same moon they watch. Those tears taste of the same salt as seawater, but she's laughing more, in her kingdom that is saved.

Usopp's laugh is different, louder and sillier but no less true. But wherever Usopp is now, he can't hear it, no matter how hard he listens to the wind.

Between the carved curling horns, Luffy wraps his arms around his legs, rests his forehead on his knees. In the shelter of his arms all he can see is the dim sunlight filtering through the hat's straw weave, playing on his faded jeans. All of him smells of saltwater, so strong it burns his nose, his eyes. With his arms muffling his ears he can't hear the sea, or the wind, or the hurting of the hull; nothing at all but the constant steady rush, in and out and in and out, of his own breathing.


	3. Sabotage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Topic: close calls
> 
> Current manga arc, before/during ch.332. One-track mind - moi?

It comes to him as he's inspecting the dials, making sure none have cracked, rattling around with the junk in his bag. Luffy's not immune to everything; the burst of an impact dial will knock him far, when it's mass, not strength, that matters. Usopp will have to brace himself against the ground, and the damage of the backlash--he'll endure it. This is a man's duel and he'll do all he can to win. If he can get Luffy where he wants him, in the traps--

Or beyond them, he realizes, and it's like he was blind, but now all he can see in his head is that bay, with the sea all around. Send Luffy flying a little farther, and in the confusion of the dust he wouldn't have time to act before he hits the water. And then the battle is won, as easy as that, you think you're so strong, Luffy, but you can't even--

His face would be blue when they pulled him out, or else he wouldn't be at all, if they're too slow. It's not the thought of what the others would do, Zoro and everyone else; Usopp knows they must hate him already. Nor that it would be cheating; they're pirates, and the only fair fight is the one you win. And this would win. But in his head Usopp can see the cold waves, black in the night; can see himself diving into them, and finding nothing, no matter how long and hard he searches. He wants to throw up, wraps his arms around his shaking body and sits still for a while, before getting out paper to plot the dials' placement, calculating the right distance from the sea to make sure there are no close calls.


	4. Soon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Topic: special moments
> 
> Er. My inspiration overrode my common sense and my devotion to the canon of the future.

It hasn't happened. Yet. They don't see it in the shipwright's eyes, that particular epiphany, that brilliant stunning realization that no enemy is undefeatable, that no dream is impossible; that he will follow to death, and farther.

The shipwright says _no_ now and means it, though their captain laughs like he's joking. The rest of them don't laugh; they're waiting. They know it will be soon, that moment of clarity kept in all their hearts with their most precious memories; know that when they leave this island, he will sail with them, to the ends of the earth, and farther.


End file.
